Chapter Thirteen – Existence of Kuon

"I've been told that you're going to be my manager during my time at LME," she said and Yashiro raised an eyebrow. His voice and expression grew distant and cold and he put the paperwork into his bag before shutting it tightly. "I mean, to know that I was getting Tsuruga Ren's old man-"

"I am not anyone's manager and the LME staff should have told you that were you a new hire," Yashiro replied quite sternly. He shook his head and looked at him again and Kuon could realize that he had no idea who he was and he was debating whether or not to spread the secret. Maria knew and, no offense to her, Yashiro was much better at keeping secrets. He had been trained to do so.

"You were Tsuruga's manager though and with his passing don't you need someone else to represent," Kuon continued and Yashiro stood very still, the air around him growing tense. Yashiro sorted some of the paperwork again although Kuon felt that he already had it perfectly sorted.

"Ren Tsuruga was someone who was truly special to me. It doesn't matter if I meant the same to him but I viewed Ren as a younger brother. I cared about his happiness and I cared about his health, his work duties, but more than anything I wanted for him to have a strong career and a happy life. I spent a lot of my time as his manager and even if he didn't consider me a friend, I considered him one."

Yashiro looked ahead at the industry and then pushed a hand through his hair, his shoulders slumping as he felt that great sadness from within. "I probably shouldn't be telling you this. I don't even know me and anything I let slip might lead to my client's memory being soiled. He left behind a legacy that I and so many others want to protect."

"Because he was the son of Hizuri Kuu, right?" Kuon asked and Yashiro stared at him before shaking his head.

"Because he was Tsuruga Ren. Although I am honored that I got to know the man who was actually Kuu's son, he wasn't living a complete lie. I know that he had internalized Ren and though there were things that would leave if he ever stopped being Ren, you can never pretend to only be a role," Yashiro turned away but Kuon could see the grip that he had on the suitcase. He had to at least admit to himself that he would be going through this much pain were the roles reversed. If Yashiro were the one who had died then Kuon would have felt pain at that fact.

"What killed him?" Kuon asked and Yashiro turned.

"It would be impossible to explain," he said before starting to go towards the building and Kuon turned from side to side, there was nobody watching him and so it would be all right. Focusing his attention on a large poster at the side of the building in front of Yashiro, Kuon turned his attention to that poster and made it seem to curl itself up, sparkling as it did so. He took slow breaths before unraveling the poster and moving the ink on it to the ground. He then brought his hand up and rearranged some of the colors to a picture of Kuon and put underneath it the words: he wasn't worthy.

Yashiro was panicking as this strange man seemed to play around with objects as if they didn't mean much to him, as if they were inconveniences that could be used as tools and when he saw the picture of Kuon, Yashiro felt his heart pause and the words let a cold chill run down his body. He stared at the man and felt his own anger.

"Kuon Hizuri was an amazing man! I am not going to let anyone poke fun at his legacy" he argued and Kuon faced him with a raised eyebrow.

"He was someone who got himself murdered because he wanted to protect a young woman he cared for. All of this fame and fortune that you think that he's worthy of, Kuon Hizuri was just a madman who let down his family and everyone around him. He amounted to a corpse at the end of his life."

Yashiro turned back and Kuon saw anger that was rarely seen in his expression. "Maybe he never felt this way towards me, maybe I was a joke to him or someone who would never learn the person that he truly was but Ren held the place of a younger brother to me. I am not going to let you…or any of this power…destroy him."

"Why would you risk your life for him?" Kuon said as he cleared the ink from the sidewalk and Yashiro stared at him. "You do see my power. You do understand that I have skills that you would only achieve in death."

"You…you achieved your skills in death?" Yashiro asked confused and Kuon nodded.

"Yes, why, does that frighten you?" Kuon asked and Yashiro turned to him.

The former-manager took slow breaths and then rose his head, "Can you please give a message to Kuon if you ever find him. Tell him that I don't judge him, that I always treasured those moments of friendship with him, and that I miss him and thank him for giving more meaning and purpose to my life. Even if he could have never viewed me as a friend or an older brother, he has always mattered an incredible amount to me that is worth much more than money."

…..

…

Lory watched Kyoko as she sat in front of him with her hands on her knees. He could sense that there was something different about her this time but that would have easily been figured out. The last time he had seen her was when she had been killing Kuon accidentally. The boy had risked his life to help her deal with power that she wasn't in control of. She didn't kill him, he died in an attempt to protect her.

It was all thanks to Kuu that he had been able to come back.

"So, I think that I can see that boy's influence on you," he smiled and gestured to the way that Kyoko's posture was still very polite and formal. "I'm getting more of the idea of a healer or white mage this time.. Those are often very common in video games and white mages have magic spells that can do wonders on the human heart."

"Kuon gave me those powers," Kyoko said before looking away. She felt a little nervous as she continued to speak to him, the next words were very personal and Kyoko still wasn't entirely sure of what to make of them. "He's not Kuon any longer though. It would be right to say that those are the powers which Icarus possesses."

"That boy truly has flown into the sun far too many times," Lory chuckled as he reflected on the name. "So, is young Icarus doing well?" he asked and Kyoko nodded again. "I'm surprised that he didn't come."

"He did," Kyoko nodded. Kyoko took a slow breath, "You do know that he doesn't look like himself anymore?" she asked and Lory nodded. "I think that he can show his true form to people if they have accepted that he might be alive but him doing that would put the elements at risk. I just wanted to know if I could remain in contact with the agency."

"I'm not sure how you'd fare but if you could have patience, things will get easier for you to come back after a few more months," Lory attempted to explain. He didn't want to go into the fear that the staff and those who had been present for Kuon's death held about Kyoko. What she had done was something nobody had felt was possible and the uncertainty would cause conflict at the agency. Lory needed just the right idea to smooth it over. Kyoko nodded and Lory watched her. "I do think that Kuon's new look is impressive, he would be able to be a clear favorite in the acting and modeling departments,"

Kyoko nodded. It wasn't just that he looked eye-pleasing and attractive but the white magic had filled him with this indescribable draw to anything positive or happy. He would definitely become even more unstoppable than Ren was. He looked like a god descended from the other world.

"Thank you," Kyoko said as she stood up and dropped down into a bow.

"Kyoko-chan," Lory said as he saw her getting up to leave the office, "I do have one request for you though. I, of course, will keep contact with you and let you know when it feels safe for you to come back here but could you tell Kuon…or Icarus that I will always welcome him back with open arms."

Kyoko nodded and took a shaky breath in before steadying herself and went out of the office in the direction of where the elevator was. She sighed as she managed to get onto the lower floor and then saw Yashiro there. She froze. She knew that Kanae would accept her but Yashiro was a tricky one and he appeared to be in mourning. He was grieving Ren's death and she had been said to have caused it. Would he hate her for this?

"Kyoko-chan?" he asked as he walked over to her and Kyoko felt herself grow stiff and she dropped into a formal bow. "Nobody thought that you would return here."

"I had to return," Kyoko replied and Yashiro nodded.

"Have you…I don't suppose you have….did they ever…" Kyoko looked at the way his expression showed that the strong wall around him was breaking and he was pained in too many ways over the loss of his client. Kyoko knew that Yashiro was a very caring person and she knew that she had been the one who had led to Kuon's death and that Yashiro would only want to help were he to know the truth but this was Kuon's situation to talk about when he wanted to.

"Kuon died because he was killed by the black magic I possessed. He is here in Tokyo today but only because Kuu-sama dragged him from the afterlife and is protecting him. I have been being trained by Kuon because he shares these powers. I can't really talk about him and he has had to take on a different appearance and identity," she said and Yashiro listened very carefully. Kyoko knew that most people would think that she was speaking in a crazy manner.

"He's isolating himself from those who love him, isn't he?" Yashiro asked and Kyoko shook her head.

"Not me or his parents. He's changed," Kyoko said and then felt Icarus walk over to her and put his hand on her shoulder. Yashiro's eyes widened as he saw the man from earlier, the man who had the green eyes that the photo of Kuon had, the same green eyes as his mother had.

"Kyoko, are you ready to go?" he asked before turning and Yashiro looked between the two of them in shock.

"Kuon?" he asked and Kuon took a deep breath and started to walk away and away from the agency.

"My name is Icarus."

End of Chapter Thirteen

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Thank you to the reviewers of Chapter Twelve

Erza, H-Nala, Kaname671,